Woodley wanted a lot of goals to finish 2^nd in the league. This was the final match for both Dave Caswell (manager) and Emma Caswell (manager). The team took an early lead, when a cross from Zoe Clifford was headed into the goal by Jess Grimmett. This made Reading drop back, and Woodley responded with a lot of chances, including another header by Jess Grimmett that hit the crossbar. The second goal came from Amie Benton after receiving an excellent cross from Serena Hickman. Woodley began to play very deep; pushing into Reading’s half for another goal. There were a lot of chances made, but Woodley were unable to put them away. This resulted in frustration at not being able to finish, added to by the adverse heat and spring weather that tired the team. The half ended 2-0 to Woodley.

The second half continued much the same as the first, but the frustration was added to by Woodley’s numerous attempts on goal that remained fruitless and the referee making some controversial choices, some in the penalty box that could have changed the score and affected the outcome of the game. Woodley introduced new players, bringing on Tash Caswell for Serena Hickman in the 66^th minute, followed by Nicole Farley and Jess Grimmett going off for Alana McGill and Fran Batt in the 77^th minute. Tash casswell had a few decent shots on goal, but no goal as a result. The game ended 2-0. Both Dave Casswell and Emma said that they were very proud of all the team had achieved, and said that some of the memories they would keep with them like winning the Thames Valley league two years in a row and seeing players who had left coming back to play for the club again.

By:Jake lynch

Berkshire County Sports - 27th March 2011

Woodley began the match well, after attaining a corner from a strong attack inside the first two minutes. Zoe Clifford took the corner, but it was cleared out of the box only for Zoe to put it back in and Serena Hickman scored. Woodley kept up the pressure whilst Woodley`s defence denied Maidenhead any clear chances thanks to players like Nicola Froud and Sabrina Kulan. The most Maidenhead was able to do was take long shots on goal, as they could not find a way into the box due to effective defending by Woodley.

Maidenhead were typically playing quite high up the pitch and this gave Woodley the break for the second goal in the 20^th minute, which came about from a long pass up the pitch by Zoe Clifford, but it was scored by Amie Benton after a mistake between the Maidenhead defence and goalie. She was clear on goal afterwards and easily placed it in the back of the net. Maidenhead did not get their first shot on goal until the 25^th minute, but it was easily caught by the Woodley Goalkeeper, Lou Williamson. The Saints managed to piece together a lot of passes in the midfield, but were caught out by the offside trap.

They kept up the pressure and continued to test Maidenhead`s defence throughout the rest of the half with good shots on goal by Zoe Clifford, Amie Benton and Hayley Holland. Overall Woodley had done well in this half, especially after the Maidenhead attack had dropped off and allowed the Saints midfield some breathing room. The half ended 2-0 to Woodley saints.

The second half continued in the same fashion, with good defence by Woodley and no real threats made by Maidenhead. More Woodley players began to push into Maidenheads half, with more attempts on goal made by Jess Grimett and Amie Benton. It wasn’t until the 60^th minute that Amie Benton made a good run to beat the defenders and squared it to Serena Hickman for her second goal of the match and to make the score 3-0 to Woodley. The match then took a different turn, as Maidenhead pushed up the pitch again but struggled to make any real chances while Woodley got a few shots on goal, usually coming from Serena Hickman but unfortunately not finding that third goal for the hat trick; just yet.

Both teams began to tire and the match was rejuvenated when Saints put on their two newest players, Nicole Farley and Alana McGill. Nicole took Kate Hardies’ place in defence while Alana took Amie Benton’s place up front as a striker.

The match continued with Woodley beginning to bear down on Maidenhead, and in the 80^th minute a good break from Woodley’s Jess Grimett who made a pass up to Alana McGill allowing her to break through the Maidenhead defence and pass it to Serena Hickman for a Hat-trick for her and to bring the overall score to 4-0 to Woodley. The final ten minutes were not full of chances as Maidenhead looked for a consolation goal and Woodley defended resolutely. The defence played well and kept Maidenhead out all match, allowing only a few feeble attempts on goal. The midfield had good and bad patches, but were superior to Maidenhead, for the majority of the match. The manager, Dave Caswell felt that the defence were the difference between the two teams and Maidenhead’s attack became frustrated and disgruntled over time at the Saint’s unwavering Defence.

30/1/2011 - Berkshire County Sports

Woodley Saints went into the game looking to contribute to their lead at the top of the table, while Aldershot were looking to come back from a loss. The game began with Woodley being slow to begin, not coming out of their half in the first five minutes, with the only highlight being a good save from the Saints goalkeeper, Lou Williamson. Saints didn’t have their first chance until 10 minutes in, a near-miss by Felicity west. In the next minute or so, Aldershot scored making it 1-0 to them. The game continued with neither team having any real chances on goal, but Saints were beginning to get into gear and pass around, opening up the play so that they had more room and more chances. After about 30 minutes, Aldershot gave away a penalty in the box and Saint’s Zoe Gifford scored the penalty with ease. This caused the Aldershot team to begin to fight back again, but with no results as the Saints defenders denied them the opportunity to score on several occasions. The half ended 1-1 with both teams having untaken chances and being a threat to each other.

The Second half began with Woodley passing and having a lot more chances, but with no goal. They began to out pass Aldershot, but still struggle to get a goal. This half continued in the same fashion, until around 65 minutes when Aldershot began to contest for the ball and gain their own chances. There were more good attempts on goal by Felicity West and Zoe Clifford, but unfortunately none of them found the back of the net. Aldershot tried a few more times in the last ten minutes to score, but the Saint’s defence prevented them from doing so and the game ended 1-1.This was Woodley’s second draw this season.

The Woodley saints manager, Dave caswell said: “If we had played like we did in the second half for all of the game, we would have won”. The game was an unfortunate draw and had saints taken chances and played consistently like they had in the second half, it could have been a win for the team.

Written by: Jake lynch